A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon tells the story of Camilla Cream, who loves lima beans but never eats them because she wants to fit in with her friends, who all hate lima beans. On the first day of school, Camilla finally decides what to wear and gets dressed, looks in the mirror, and realizes that she is covered in stripes of all colors.
Kids laugh at Camilla, the media follows her, and all kinds of cures are tried and fail, until one woman visits her and tells her to eat lima beans. Camilla admits that she loves them, eats them, and is cured. "I knew the real you was in there somewhere," the woman tells Camilla.
Raising questions about identity, conformity, authenticity and friendship, as well as about causation and knowledge, the book's vivid illustrations and story are captivating.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Fish On A Walk
Fish on A Walk by Eva Muggenthaler is a new picture book that illustrates each picture with only two adjectives — "Happy-Sad," "Jealous-Accepting," "Wild-Polite," etc. — and each picture contains a wealth of activities and behaviors that invite exploration of what these words mean. Can you be jealous and accepting at the same time? If you're happy can you also be sad? What is usual and what is unusual?
The vibrant illustrations inspire imaginative and critical thinking and the recognition that what seems simple or ordinary often is not. The book celebrates curiosity and encourages children to think for themselves about the meaning of everyday concepts.
The vibrant illustrations inspire imaginative and critical thinking and the recognition that what seems simple or ordinary often is not. The book celebrates curiosity and encourages children to think for themselves about the meaning of everyday concepts.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization
The 2012-13 school year is off to an energetic
start! For teachers and others interested in learning about doing philosophy
with children, the new national organization I've been involved in founding,
PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization), is now accepting
members. Click here more more information on the organization and
membership: http://plato-philosophy.org
We are holding a second (the first was at Columbia
in 2011) PLATO conference, February 19-20 at Loyola University in New
Orleans. The conference theme is PLATO and Pedagogy: The Evolving Field
of Pre-College Philosophy. Sessions will include invited speakers as
well as submitted papers and presentations/workshop sessions.
Topics include: How can philosophy reach a wider pre-college
audience? How might pre-college philosophy contribute to improving K-12
education generally? Can philosophy fit into the framework of established
K-12 educational institutions? How can we ensure that pre-college philosophy
curricula have integrity? What do teachers need in order to teach philosophy
well at the high school, middle school, and/or elementary school levels? What
is needed to ensure that teachers have access to the training, resources and
collaboration necessary for pre-college philosophy to grow and thrive?
The talks given at the first PLATO Conference have been edited and
compiled into Philosophy and Education: Introducing Philosophy to Young People, just published by Cambridge Scholars
Publishing. The book seeks to illuminate the ways in which philosophy
can strengthen and deepen pre-college education, examining various issues
involved in teaching philosophy to young people at different grade levels,
including assessing what teachers need in order to teach philosophy and
describing several models for introducing philosophy into schools. Ways to
explore specific branches of philosophy—ethics, epistemology, metaphysics,
aesthetics, and logic—through literature, thought experiments, and games and
activities, as well as traditional philosophy texts, are described. The book’s
final section considers student assessment and program evaluation, and analyzes
the contributions pre-college philosophy can make to education in general.
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